Online Tcl/Tk resources

[Israelbenz at aol.com]

    I must confess that when I learned about Tcl/Tk and found that it was an 
interpreted language, I was a bit surprised that it is used to any great 
extent for something like pd.  I still think there must be a little more to 
the story.  

    Because I'm a musician, not a computer scientist, I'd love to work only 
in C++ That may sound a little strange, but It seems more prudent to focus on 
developing good C++ chops, which are "generically" powerful and useful, 
rather than a hodgepodge of languages I only sort of have a handle on.  On 
the other hand, since I started my programming straight off with C++, to pick 
up a little Java would be almost trivial, and Tcl/Tk appears (I just started 
today) to be quite easy and straight forward.  I guess it's just a balancing 
act like everything.  But I digress. As I learn more about Tcl/Tk, I'll have 
to evaluate which way I want to go with building a UI for pd (if anywhere).  
Given that I'm fairly familiar with what C++ can do, I'm certainly inclined 
to going that route, if only for my own personal version of pd.

    Since I'm just getting started with Tcl/Tk, and I don't have that much 
time to spend with it, what are some of the things it's really well suited 
for? I'd like to think I can use it for something.  I think I understand the 
kind of things it'd be really bad for.  Ironically it seems, at least 
superficially, that the ultimate goal of an app like pd would be poorly 
served by a language like Tcl/Tk.  However, since I'm also fairly new to pd, 
I'm sure there's all kinds of stuff I don't know about.

Sincerely, 
Benjamin Israel
israelbenz at aol.com
www.arts.uci.edu/israelbenz


I'll try anything once, except incest and folk dancing. . .  Sir Thomas 
Beecham